New beginnings
by AussieSurfer
Summary: A continuation of book 4.  Eragon and the elves have sailed out to sea to find a place to raise the dragons, and for a time all is well in Alagaësia, until new disturbances begin to rise. Rated T , might change, Probable ExA in the future. So R&R :
1. Chapter 1

**Hey ! Okay so a continuation of inheritance, what happens next. **

**So I don't really like some of the things that happened in the book, but thought it was amazing in general. Sad Eragon and Arya didn't get together D: how could he deny so many of us fans even that, then to separate them like that. Sheesh. Anyway enjoy, maybe not my best work ever though on this chapter.**

Word count: 2018 **(The word count is w/o the note above^)**

The ship _Talíta _had been sailing away from Alagaësia for high on four days now. The land they left behind grew ever smaller until it was only a small jagged line on the horizon. Then, on the third day of their travels around the time of midday, when the sun was at its peak, a rolling fog had swept in somewhere far in the distance hiding Alagaësia from their view for what may be the last time.

Eragon leaned against the bow of the ship, staring into the distance with his head resting on his hands. Saphira flew above the ship in slow arching circles; she had taken Glaedr and a few of the other Eldunarí into the skies for them to re-live the experience of flying once more, without being stuck in some invisible space behind the great sapphire dragon. Saphira had drawn the Eldunarí into her mind like she sometimes did with Eragon upon her back, to make the flight as realistic as possible for the dragons she carried. The thoughts, or rather feelings, of the dragons radiated pure joy. Eragon let a small smile grace his face as the emotions ran through him via the small tendril of his link with Saphira he had left open. But he himself was not happy; in actuality, he was feeling rather down, almost to the point of being depressed.

Fate could be cruel. Fate took Brom away from him. Fate took Omoris away from him. And now fate had taken Arya from him, along with her not so newly hatched dragon, Fírnen. But then fate suddenly stopped slapping you in the face and gave you a gift so great, that it bought tears to your eyes.

Dragon Eggs, and the Eldunarí from the dragons of old.

Funny how it works that way.

Eragon pushed himself lightly away from the bow of the ship and turned and walked to the center of the vessel before taking the steps and descending into the decks below. Turning left, another left, and then right through the corridors, he arrive at the room that held the two-hundred-and-forty-three eggs in it, along with the rest of the Eldunarí. Two elves stood at the door, protecting it, although a threat of an attack was extremely unlikely and even if they were attacked the pirates, or whomever they might be, would never get below deck to even try to get into the room. Yet the elves had insisted, so Eragon let the subject be.

The elves opened the double doors for him and allowed him to enter. The room had alcoves along all four sides of the room to hold the precious cargo, much like the Vault of souls. Each was padded with the softest silk cushions and had an oak door to make sure nothing fell out if the ship were to encounter bad waters. Each alcove varied in size, for the Eldunarí and eggs did.

The twenty-six eggs destined to be bonded with riders, be them Elf, Human, Urgal, or Dwarf, were set to the left, front corner of the room. The Eldunarí took up the rest of the left side of the room along with a small section of the back wall. The eggs took up the rest of the room. Two shelves ran in lines up the middle of the room, holding the larger eggs.

He walked along the right side of the row on the left and stopped about midway down and opened the oak door to the alcove. This was the biggest egg in the room, reaching just over six-foot in height. Eragon, when wrapping his arms around the egg, couldn't touch his other hands fingers, his arms would need to more than double in size for him to be able to do that.

_I wonder who your Dam and Sire were,_ he thought, _they must've be mighty, old dragons to lay an egg the size of yours._ He ran his hand down the shell of the brightly coloured egg, it was smooth to the touch, just as Saphira's had been, and let a pure note peel from it when he tapped it. The egg was a hue of fiery-orange, much like that of a flickering flame.

Eragon spent another minute admiring the egg before closing the oak doors and walking over to the back right hand corner to sit on a soft cushion had been set on the floor for those who wished to communicate in length with the dragons of old, could sit in comfort.

Once you got past looking at the contents of the room, you would notice the details of the room and the massive mural that covered the roof of the room. It had been carved by the elves with the best-known ability for carving. The mural depicted the time that the original spell that joined elves and dragons, at the end of their bloody war. Every scale on a dragons back was carved with perfection, and no detail was missed, if you looked at it long enough, you could come to think of it as a still of a memory in your own brain. It was so life like and realistic that you could spend hours, laying on your back just looking at it.

But the mural on the roof was not why Eragon had visited. He had come to learn. He found that coming here to learn from the masters of old took his mind off his troubles of leaving behind his family and friends. Especially Arya. They didn't teach him as they had done as he had flown towards Urû'baen, with lots of information at once, but slower, more controlled so he understood.

Hours past in this manner, him sitting, learning before the time came where his stomach rumbled with hunger. Excusing himself from his new masters and stood up on his slightly cramped legs and walked out of the room, nodding to the elves on either side of the doors as they opened and closed the door for him. He walked up the steps at a slow pace, working the kinks out of his muscles, he had been sitting longer than he thought. When he emerged onto the deck, the sun had set and flameless lanterns were now lit across this ship. The ships deck had been built large enough, and sturdy enough for Saphira to land on the boat to sleep and rest. Taking off though had proven to be somewhat of a challenge at first, as she wasn't able to push off as hard anymore to take flight in fear of capsizing the ship. She almost did exactly that on her first try, and after many almost accidents, she had mastered landing and taking off smoothly. Right now though, it wasn't a worry. She had landed in the water and was now swimming like a serpent along side the ship. She was carful to keep her mind open to the creatures of the see however, so an Nïdwhal, or anything else would not sneak up on her.

"Kingkiller," Blödhgarm greeted Eragon as he walked over to where the rest of his guards were sitting at the back of the ship, they were sated around a table that seemed to grow out of the ship itself. _I guess it really wouldn't surprise me if it was, _ Eragon thought, and sure enough when he looked at the feet of the table, they were melded into, and created from the same wood as the floor beneath it.

"Blödhgarm, please, just call me Eragon," after weeks of being greeted with his new name, the title had started to annoying his, from the formality it bought with it, the distance people now placed between them when they spoke to him.

"As you wish Eragon, we were just looking at maps of this area we are in, would you like to join us? We are looking at possible directions to sail in from the areas that wear known by the riders." Eragon nodded.

"I would, but first I must find something to eat, I'm starved," he let of s smile and walked through a door to his right into a room that serve as an eating area. One of the elves that accompanied them aboard the ship bought him a meal of steamed vegetables, bread and fruit.

"Thank you," he said and stared at her face with a small frown. "I don't believe we have met before, I'm Eragon. " He smiled at her and she bowed slightly.

"No, we haven't. I was one of the few who isn't a part of your guards that decided to join you on this journey. And there is know need to tell me who you are, for who doesn't know your name. Atra esterní ono thelduin." She replied in her song like voice.

"Mor'ranr lífa unin hjarta onr."

"Un du evarínya ono varda." She replied with the final greeting, and turned to walk away.

"Wait!" Eragon shouted and she turned to look at him, her blue eyes boring into him. "What is your name?" She smiled and answered;

"Shayeldn," before turning on her heal, her starlight hair swishing around her and walked to where the food was prepared.

He soon finished his meal and walked back to where the other elves were gathered around the various maps laid out on the table.

"Eragon," purred Blödhgarm, "We have eliminated some of the islands on account of size. These maps are drawn very much to scale so these six," he pointed to six different islands scattered on the map in turn, "we have deemed to be too small for the need of raising dragons." Blödhgarm looked up at Eragon to see his approval and continued on his explaination. "We have two picked out that look ideal from their size, as they are quiet large, this one," he pointed one due north of their current position," being almost as large as Surda, its new lands included. The next biggest being about three-quarters of that size."

"I like the sound of that big island, there would be plenty of room for the wild dragons to nest, for us to build our new capital. But would it be too big? For none others but the riders and dragons would live there. I say, we try the second biggest island first, and if its landscape and animal populations do not suit our needs, we sail to the other island. Does that sound fair to all of you?" He looked up to see all the elves looking up at him, and turned to Blödhgarm, as he seemed to speak for the rest.

"Yes Eragon, that seems like a good plan, and if neither of those islands fit our needs, we shall discuss our next move then. For now, we shall change our course to this new island."

Eragon smiled, something was happening. The reality of this venture was starting to kick in. The ship wobbled slightly as Saphira landed on the ships main deck, and Eragon walked over to her and rubbed her snout before walking to her side and releasing he straps of her saddle. She had still been wearing it to allow her to carry the Eldunarí. An elf came over to take the back down below with the rest of the Eldunarí and Saphira moved to where a there was dais made for her and curled up in it. Eragon walked over and joined her, leaning against her warm, slightly wet, side and opened his mind up fully to her once more.

_Little one, _she crooned. As soon as he widen their link, she felt his ever deepening sadness. _ We knew this day would come._

_Yes, but that doesn't make it any easier, _he replied in kind. A part of her mind was still sealed from him, yet he knew what it was she was attempting to hide. Her sorrow for leaving Fírnen. She had finally met her mate, which she feared she never would, only to have him taken away. _I'm here Saphira, I'm here._

_I know little one, now sleep. _


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey, so chapter number two. Whoo. I plan on updating at least once a week, maybe twice depends on how busy I am. But there will be a time when there aren't any updates for a while cause I'm moving soon ! Just a heads up. **

WORD COUNT: 1451 (before a/n)

They had been traveling for another two days before Saphira spotted their current destination, an island Eragon hopped would prove inhabitable enough and a suitable place to raise the new generation of wild dragons and riders. It took a couple more hours for Eragon and the elves to see the island, and when it did, its size became apparent, because it took another whole day before thy were at the coast of the island.

"Eragon," Blödhgarm approached him from behind where he had been standing on the left side of the ship, looking out onto the island. "There doesn't seem to be a port here, so some of the elves and I are going to take some smaller row boats to the island, do you wish to accompany us?"

"Thank you for the offer, Blödhgarm, but I shall fly over on Saphira. She wishes to see the island herself, and it will give me a quick, basic idea of the island quicker than it would on the ground."

"Of course, though if I might ask you something Shadeslayer." Eragon nodded his head for him to continue. "I would ask that you and Saphira always keep in contact with on of the elves, whether it be myself or another. We don't know what is on this island and would not know if you had been attacked or if anything had happened to you."

"Of course Blödhgarm, I shall do that. Now," he said mounting Saphira. "I shall see you soon." The blue-furred elf raised a hand in farewell and Saphira slowly spread her wing, and with careful movements, pushed off the ship and climbed into the sky.

Saphira soon closed the distance between the ship and the island and gained altitude until she was cruising about 500 feet above the tree line, from what Eragon could see, a forest of what looked like pine, stretched across much of the island, extending to the east as far as the eye could see and beyond.

_I wonder how far this forest stretches; the trees look old, so it must've been growing for a couple hundred years or so. _Eragon commented to Saphira. Eragon felt her agreement through her link.

_I know little one, it reminds me of du wellenvarden. See those mountains to the north, cutting down the middle of the island? Those would be nice to roost in._

_Then it looks to extend into a rocky plateau to the north, and coming down south, it turns into grass lands. This is sounding better and better Saphira._

_Yes, look to the west, the soil starts to dry out, perhaps it turns into desert out that way. _ Eragon felt her joy at the thought, she loved the desert. He remembered when they were crossing the Hadarac desert she had said she could have stayed there for years and not notice the time going by, the warmth flowing through her.

_Do you wish to fly out that way and have a look. _He questioned.

_No, I fear we would go to far trying to find out, and this island is huge. I also believe we would soon fly to far away for us to keep on contact with Blödhgarm. _

_Shall we head down then? And have a look on land? _Her answer was to tuck in one wing so she rolled and started to descend rapidly towards the ground. She then tucked in her other wing and Eragon pressed himself against her neck, making her as streamline as possible. Pure joy ran through there link as there minds melded as one. When she was no more than a couple hundred feet about the grass plain, Saphira spread her wings so the joints were facing down and the evened them out so they were horizontal to the ground before they landed with a loud thump on the ground next to where the elves had docked on the shore of the island.

_You've gotten better at pulling out of dives like that, _Eragon commented. He felt her pleasure at his comment.

_Yes, it no longer hurts my wings for a whole day afterwards. _

Eragon loosened the buckles on the straps holding his legs in place and dismounted off Saphira and walked over to Blödhgarm.

"The island looks good from the sky, forest to the east fast as the eye can see, mountains, then a grassy plain and it looks like it'll turn into desert after that but we aren't sure, we didn't want to venture too far." Eragon explained what they had seen in the skies and then they split into 3 groups to check the grounds.

Eragon was in a group with Blödhgarm and another two elves, one a female with hair of midnight named, Hegæm, and another male also with dark hair named, Listul. They had decided to check the area to the east, in the pine forest. As they ran no one talked, it took roughly two hours of non stop running to reach the forest and in that time, they hadn't see any animals.

Another hour they ran, into the shadowy depths of the forest. Most of the trees were as large, of even larger than those in du weldenvarden. When the sun started to set, the four of them stopped and set about making a camp to stay at for the night. Saphira, who had been following overhead circled in the sky looking for an opening between the trees to land. When she descended through the biggest place she could find, she still managed to rip the leaves and bark off many of the trees. She shock herself and folded her wings and curled up at the edge of the small clearing they had decided to stay in.

_You couldn't have found a smaller clearing in this entire forest. _She sniffed, _making me land through that is going to make me lose even more of my scales! The one on my snout still hasn't regrown yet, and it has been months! Do you want me to looked like a dead fish with half its dull scales missing? _Eragon chuckled.

_Dragons and their vanity. _The clearing soon filled with smoke as Saphira snorted.

_Is it so wrong that I care about what I look like? Dragons are the most spectacular looking of the species in this land, so what if I've come to terms with that. _Eragon walked over and touched the spot of her missing scale.

_Scales grow back, its almost healed see. _He sent her an image of her half there, half gone scale.

_So do trees. _She sent him an image of the path she made through the foliage over head.

_Then why are we having this conversation, again, when we know everything grows back eventually? _She shook her massive head.

_No, not everything grows back._

_Like what?_

_Teeth, at least for you humans, once you loose your first set, the next are your last._

_But that doesn't apply to scales or trees, they both grow back. And we also know that there exceptions to every rule._

_Not every rule, _she rebutted.

_Ah, I give up. Must we talk of this? Its making my head hurt. _ She made a sound as close to laughing as dragons can make and she curled her neck so she could look at Eragon who was now seated against her belly.

_How wise of you little one, no one can outsmart a dragon._

_Then I feel you should know I wasn't trying to out smart you. _He smiled as he saw Saphira snort again.

_Again, how wise of you. You wouldn't have succeeded. _

_I know. _Saphira was about to reply when Blödhgarm approached.

"Eragon, if you wish to rest now would be the time, I and Listul are taking the first watch. We may not have seen any animals on the way here, but that does not mean there aren't any lurking around out there." Eragon nodded.

"Thank you, would you wake me at midnight, I will then take watch." Blödhgarm's purred his response before walking to the edge of the camp, opposite of where Listul sat.

Eragon took a deep breath and rolled onto his back and Saphira's wing soon covered him. _It smells so much like her, _was his last thought before he sunk into his waking dreams.

Saphira stayed awake as her rider slipped into unconsciousness. It had been less than a week away from her and already his mind was breeding sorrow. After an hour she felt her eye lids drooping and finally allowed herself to fall into an uneasy slumber, only to be woken by an ear piercing scream and claws being dug into her back side only minute later.


End file.
